Flutter
by InlovewithBroadway
Summary: One shot. Just a big dollop of fluffy Trink goodness. Post-musical by a few years.


**A/N: Alternative timeline than GLGH. My same Link and Trace…just slightly older versions of them than you're used to and set in a potentially different future. ;) Sans plot; just a happy piece of fluff in celebration of thread 450 on fanforum! :D Enjoy!**

**Flutter**

_**By Amber M.**_

She swore it was real this time.

She had been right in the middle of a big, endless type of dream. The sort of dream where you can't remember when it began and you couldn't begin to guess when you were going to wake up. And yet...she was ok with it. She had been walking on the shore of some foreign, empty beach, carrying a little baby all dressed in powder pink. For some reason, each time the waves crashed into the sand and tickled her ankles she would laugh, and then the baby would laugh. Over and over again. She laughed and then the little baby would laugh. Laughing and laughing and laughing until…

It woke her up.

She was awake instantly, sitting up straight in bed, breathing heavily in the dark. She turned this way and that, jolted by the feeling in her abdomen. So surprised by it, it took her a bit to realize that she was in their house and she wasn't strolling along some distant, tropical shore.

Her hand had flown down to her stomach instantly, and now rested there. Although the feeling was gone, the memory of it still sharply lingered, still pulsated within her.

There was no way she imagined it; it _had_ _to be_ real.

She glanced over at Link, and noticed that he was still asleep. He looked entirely wiped out. She knew it must be late, however she decided she didn't care and instead tried to shake Link awake.

"Link! Link, quick!" she said, her voice an excited, hushed whisper.

"Nmmmmfff," Link groaned into the pillow.

"Link! Wake up!" she said, shaking him again. At this, he only turned on his side and tried to pull her closer to him. This might have been endearing on any other night, but she _really_ wanted him awake. As his arms grasped for her, leaning closer toward her, she pushed him in the opposite direction, so that he flopped over onto his back instead.

That did it. He drowsily opened his eyes, confused at being pushed away, looking around this way and that.

"Wha? S'everything alright?" he mumbled.

"I felt her!" she said, sitting up, leaning over him.

"What?" he murmured, as he glanced over to the alarm clock. "It's four in the mornin', Trace. You should be asleep,"

"But I felt her, Link! I felt her!" she said again, now growing a little impatient at how slow he was at becoming aware of the whole situation.

Link blinked twice, still confused. It was only as he sat up a little and rubbed his eyes that he seemed to finally comprehend her words.

"What do you mean, 'you felt her'?" he asked, still looking at her groggily.

Tracy rolled her eyes a little and blatantly pointed to her abdomen. Suddenly, Link's eyes grew wide for the first time, as he sat completely upright and stared at Tracy in disbelief.

"Wait, it_ kicked_? The baby _kicked_?" Link managed to choke out in surprise.

"I don't know if it was exactly _kicking_. But moving, definitely! Fluttering maybe?"

"Fluttering?" Link asked, shock written all over this face, his jaw a little slack. "Are you sure?" he asked, although there was now a bright sort of excitement that accompanied his hopeful, blue eyes.

"The doctor said between 18 to 20 weeks usually…and it's almost been 20," Tracy said excitedly.

Link's hand was already on her stomach, rubbing it over her silk nightgown slowly. After a minute he frowned. "I don't feel anything," he said solemnly.

"Just be patient…" Tracy said. After a bit of time, Link gently laid his head to Tracy's stomach, as if he was almost listening for a sign of life she had just felt. Instead though, it seemed the baby was still for the time being….and after a few long, quiet minutes, she sighed.

"Well, maybe she just doesn't feel like it anymore," Tracy said.

"I wish you'd stop calling our unborn baby a 'she', Trace. We don't know it's a girl," Link reminded her.

"I do," Tracy replied, through a sure grin. "I _know_ it." She wasn't totally aware when exactly she had figured it out, but for some reason the knowledge of it now seemed to resonate through her very core. And if she had at all been unsure before, the little flutter she felt upon awakening had just confirmed it for her.

Link only smirked a little as he continued to stare up at her, but didn't argue back. She shot him a guilty smile.

"Sorry I woke you up," she said after a long moment, squeezing one of his hands.

"Never apologize about that, darling," Link said softly through a yawn, finally moving up once again closer to her, although one hand still remained at her stomach, still hopeful. "I told you- I'm not missing _one moment_ of this. Even if I do have to be at work in…' at this Link glanced over at the alarm clock again, "two hours," he said, through a laugh.

"You know, she woke me out of a dead sleep," Tracy said, as her fingers traced his own.

"Really?" Link asked, lazily stroking her hand as well.

"I was dreaming actually. A pretty weird, vivid dream," Tracy said through a small laugh.

"What were you dreaming about, doll?" Link asked, now curious.

"Babies, what else?" Tracy responded through another chuckle. At this Link laughed too.

"So was I," Link replied. At this Tracy moved her head slightly to get a better look at him, sort of surprised by this.

"You were dreaming about babies?" she asked

"Yeah," Link said, through a small blush. "I was in a room full of them and I couldn't take care of them all."

Tracy laughed a little at this. "Well that's no good," she said.

"Tell me about it," Link mumbled back, before they both fell silent once again.

For a while no one spoke, as the exhaustion of yesterday started to settle over them again. Link still kept his hand at her stomach though, and she knew he was still half-way waiting for their baby to move for him. Once again she felt a little guilty for waking him. He had been working entirely too late as it was, and still getting up way too early- he really didn't need any pointless late night rendezvouses.

What he said next surprised her though, for she had half-way thought he had drifted back to sleep.

"What if I'm not good at it?" he murmured, his voice cutting through the darkness.

"What?" she said, sitting up once more, looking at him. Although Tracy was sure she had a quizzical look on her face, she had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about. She just couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I mean, being a dad. What if I mess it up? What if...what if I'm not good at it?" he asked her, his blue eyes dark with only the pitch black night to illuminate them.

"Of course you're going to be good at it," she said, as if even questioning such a notion was entirely ridiculous.

"But how do you _know_? I mean..." Link trailed off, sighing. "I feel like you're a lot more prepared than I am. You can feel it kick. You know already get the sense that it's a girl... You know already have this relationship with the baby… whereas I....I feel like I barely know it…"

"You'll _get _to know her..." Tracy began, but Link's worried rant cut her short.

"But I don't even know how to_ be_ a father. With the example I had growing up? How will I know what to teach it? What's right and what's wrong? How do you know I'll be any good at it at all?" he said, looking at her desperately. For a moment, Tracy processed his fears. Despite his shallow, egotistical tendencies, Link always had a hard time seeing his truly good qualities.

Tracy snuggled closer to him, putting a hand to his hair, smiling.

"Because I know _you._ The fact that you're even worrying about it means so much. Link, you're kind, caring, thoughtful, gentle. And those are all qualities you'll teach her, in your own way," she said through a smile. "You're going to be an excellent father." At this she moved closer to him, her lips barely brushing his own.

"You sure?" he whispered, although she realized his breathing was changing as she leaned in closer to him.

"There are some things you should just trust me on," she said through a smirk, before kissing him softly, gently. He folded into her kiss, running his tongue over hers, taking her in. She sighed as she was completely redefined by his touch once more, just as she always was, the feel of his fingers on her skin never, ever getting old.

It was right then that it happened again.

"Holy-!" Link yelped, and somehow hopped three feet back to the other side of the bed in total and complete shock. He stared at Tracy and then to her stomach, and then back at Tracy in disbelief, and she found herself giggling.

After regaining his composure enough to speak, he crawled back over to her. "I felt it! I felt_ her_! She…moved! Ha!" he said, through a big, goofy smile. He put his hand once more on her abdomen, and once again they both felt the baby move.

"Huh, wow, that's weird... it's not like a kick at all...it's sort of like...like a..."

"Flutter?" Tracy offered through a smile.

"Yeah," Link replied, smiling too. "Exactly… you were right…"

"I_ told_ you," Tracy said, as she took his hand again.

"Wow," Link breathed out.

"Yeah," Tracy offered.

"She's really there… like… she's _right there," _Link locked eyes with her then, and both Link and Tracy shared a moment of little wonder. Tracy grinned, her hand tightening on Link's.

"You had my heart beating so fast with that kiss... it must have scared her," Tracy smirked. Link stared at her for a moment in surprise, and then looked down to Tracy's middle again.

"I'm sorry daddy scared you, little girl," Link said to Tracy's stomach in a baby-voice. Tracy could only laugh at his new-found enthusiasm.

"Oh, so now it's a girl all the sudden?" she asked. Link hesitated as he came up to her again, although he was smiling widely.

"I think there are some things I should just trust you on…" he replied coyly, before moving to kiss his way to her lips again.

"Good man," Tracy replied, before pressing her lips to his in return, smiling still at all the magic tonight had brought for them, and the awe at a future right within their reach.

_**End.**_


End file.
